Hello to all my loyal readers. Before I tell you all about my brand new and what will be my very first John Deere, allow me to provide some background. As many of you will know, my grandfather (my dad’s dad) was a farmer. Unfortunately, I never really got to know my grandfather as he passed away when I was about 18 months old. But I’ve heard enough stories through the years and before he retired in the early 60’s he was a firm believer in the John Deere brand. He even used many of the horse/mule drawn implements and all were John Deere.
When I was a kid in my pre-teens all the way through my late teens I mowed yards to earn extra money. It started out with just my own yard and then around the time I turned 13-14, I picked up several extra yards. During the summer months I would typically have 3-5 yards which I mowed on an almost weekly basis. Of course, I was using an old style push mower at first and then around the time I was 15-16 I bought a nice self-propelled mower which certainly helped a lot as some of the yards had a bit of elevation.
Once I graduated from high school and moved off to college, my grass cutting days were over as I mostly lived in apartments where needing to mow wasn’t required. At this time of my life and after having mowed yards for many years, I really didn’t miss it much.
When my wife and I bought our home in Denver in 2004, we didn’t need to do any mowing as our HOA or Home Owners Association did this for us. Plus our yard is relatively small. However, with our new home in Texas, while we’re still living in an HOA environment…we the homeowner is fully responsible for our own yard maintenance.
Decisions, Decisions…
Our house in Texas is on a fairly descent sized corner lot which measures about 12,000 sq ft which is about a quarter of an acre. Not huge….but also not like the postage stamp size lot of our Denver home. Of course, we have many options. First, we could hire a yard maintenance company which would mow our grass or we could hire a teenager looking to earn a few extra dollars to do it. In the 1980’s I typically charged $10 – $15 per yard and depending on the size of the yard and the complexity of the yard, it would only take me about an hour for each. Earning $10-15 per hour in the 1980’s was pretty darn good money. However, in today’s world and for our new house in Texas this equates to about $60 per hour.
It’s Not About The Money
No, it really isn’t. I really have no issue in paying someone $60 dollars an hour to perform a job that I either don’t have the time to do or physically can’t do. But in this case, I’m still a young 58 and believe I can still maintain my yard for at least another 10 years, perhaps even longer with the right tools. So I’ve decided to purchase a mower and will do the work myself. But what should I buy? What do I really need?
If I were younger, the size of yard we have at the new house in Texas could easily be done with a regular motorized push mower and probably wouldn’t take more than two hours to mow, trim and blow. But as it’s been 40 years since I’ve mowed grass (or there abouts) I’ve decided to treat myself to a riding mower. But not just any riding mower….
My First John Deere
Yes, as the subject line teases, I’ve purchased a very nice John Deere Zero-Turn riding mower. I did spend several weeks researching options between all the top brands of mowers, but chose John Deere for many reasons.
First, if you drive 10 minutes into the country away from the city where I live you’ll find on both sides of the road and as far as you can see huge fields of corn, wheat and cotton. The farmers working these fields are all running John Deere equipment. Within 20 minutes of me there are two huge John Deere dealerships selling everything from combines, tractors and every sort of green implement you can imagine. The fact that I have two large Deere dealerships near me means that getting parts for my new mower shouldn’t be an issue.
Second, my grandfather. My grandfather was a small time farmer in comparison to the farming taking place around this part of Texas. But if John Deere was good enough for him, then it will be exactly what I need.
Third, American Made. I believe in buying American made products. While there are certainly lower cost options in the zero-turn mower market, I want something that when taken care of will last me for as long as I’m wanting to mow my own grass.
What John Deere Did I Buy?
Again, I researched this carefully. But I decided on the John Deere Z320R model along with a bagger kit. I purchased directly from the Deere dealership as the options available from either of the two “Big Box” store options didn’t fully suit my needs. Plus the John Deere dealership delivered my new mower, fully inspected it and spent a few minutes going over some of the operational details.
My new John Deere Z320R is kitted out with a 21.5 HP Kawasaki V-Twin engine, 42 inch mower deck with a 20 inch high-back custom-tailored seat with arm rests. While I may not plan to do any late evening mowing, the Z320R comes standard with two forward facing and two side facing bright LED lights. And the most important feature is the built-in cup holder which will come in handy in the Texas summer heat.
All-in-all I’m very satisfied with my brand new John Deere. As the mowing season is all but over for 2024, I will need to bag up leaves a few times and the new bagger kit makes super light work of this back breaking task. And yes, I’m actually looking forward to late spring when it will be time once again to mow my lawn. It’s true….nothing runs like a Deere!
It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged about anything other than flight simulation and with the quickly approaching release date for the new version of GIANTS Farming Simulator I thought I would put a few thoughts down.
As I’ve mentioned before, my first experience with any sort of agricultural based simulation game was with Farming Simulator 15 and I’ve owned/played all the versions since. When I first started hearing about the future release of FS25 I honestly had mixed emotions. In recent months, I really haven’t spent a lot of time playing FS22. For me, my main simulation interest has always been flight simulation and I sort of intermix Farming and Trucking when the boredom starts to sit in. I had made the decision to take a “wait and see” approach to FS25. Wait until it was released and then watch some game play on Youtube to see what really has changed and go from there. After all, I figured my upcoming move to Texas which will be happening in the late October to early November timeframe would keep me far to busy to worry about doing any sort of gaming and certainly not a lot of time for virtual farming.
But, best laid plans and all that…I did decide to go ahead and pre-order Farming Simulator 25 yesterday on Steam. Everything mentioned above is still true. Most likely I won’t have much time to spend with FS25 until we’re settled into the new home as that must be my priority in life during this time. But what changed my mind?
I suppose I was feeling a bit sorry for myself as both my wife and I picked up Covid during our trip to Texas and we’re both feeling like we’ve been run over with a tractor. Plus while I must honestly say that there really isn’t a whole lot of new in FS25, there is some new features that interest me to make the purchase. I’m not going to go into all the details about FS25 as I’m sure you’ve watched and read all that has been mentioned about the new title. But bottom line is I’m looking forward to being able to spend a few hours with the new version when time permits and I’ll be sure to provide my opinions here at a later time.
It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform those of you who regularly read my blog that our dear, dear friend….Eustace Pharmer aka Atomic67-Gaming recently passed away. Like many of you, I met and got to know EP via his YouTube Farming Simulator Channel. While EP was not responsible for me starting my own channel, he was truly the inspiration and mentor in which I continued to strive to be in my own efforts of developing online content. While EP wasn’t actively producing content on his main channel, he had been actively working on a new project where he released daily YouTube Shorts featuring daily inspirational messages on his Percy Wyatt Relaxation channel.
As we all know, EP was a perfectionist in all that he allowed us to see and often times we waited anxiously for his next installment of what ever he was producing. But it was his shear talent and love for all of us that he put into each and every production he released on his channel. For me personally, each time I received a notification of new content from his channel, I knew it would be absolute gold. However, his greatest love was in helping others. Whether it was helping someone understand various elements with the games he played or helping someone start their own channel, he did it because he loved doing it. This was his true passion and the legacy in which he leaves behind.
While there are many content creators who were inspired through EP’s efforts, I’m lucky to have been able to call him a friend and was fortunate enough to be able to meet him face to face on one occasion about 5 years ago. EP and his wife were flying through Denver on their way out to Las Vegas and we met up at the airport for lunch.
In the 8+ years I knew EP, I got to know the real man behind the YouTube personality and to be honest….there really wasn’t much of a difference. EP was a loving husband and father and just an all-round good man. Thank you for your friendship and all the kindness you shared with me over the years. You will be dearly missed….but NEVER forgotten.
The past few weeks I’ve been playing Farming Simulator 17. No, that’s not a typo….I’ve been playing the FS17 version which was released back in the fall of 2016 and is over four years old. While I enjoy FS19, my enjoyment of the older FS17 version has been rekindled by the updated The Western Shore map by the extremely talented BulletBill. If you are interested in playing The Western Shore for FS17, you can download it from my mod hosting site, SimplySafeMods. Here’s the link.
I was first introduced to this map a little over a year ago. BulletBill had allowed me to download and play the early release of this wonderful map. But since that time, the map has been updated to version 2.0.0.2. The latest version of the map is truly a joy to play and in my opinion, has been modded to play more like a farm sim map should. More about this later.
No Right or Wrong Way
I’ve often said there’s no right or wrong way to enjoy farming simulator. One can choose to play big maps with big equipment (or even small equipment) or one can play smaller maps with smaller equipment. Of course, smaller maps will generally require the use of smaller equipment and The Western Shore is certainly that kind of map.
With mods, one can also choose how to handle various tasks on the farm. As an example, if you don’t want to mess with baling hay or straw, there are mods available which will allow you to store these items in bulk. You can also pair these storage silos with feed mixer mods which will pre-mix your cow or pig feed needs for you. Again, there’s no right or wrong way to play.
My Game Play
As previously mentioned, I’ve been playing FS17 and BulletBill’s The Western Shore. The map was designed with multiplayer in mind, however….it can also be enjoyed in a single player/offline setting as well. The map features multiple farms with each individual farm consisting of a single animal type. But nothing is stopping you from playing multiple farms at the same time. That’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m raising sheep at Strumble Lane and running a small dairy at Bramble Lane. Strumble Lane Farm is my main base of operations (where I live) and I am considering the dairy function as a contract.
Seasons?
Oh yes, I’ve been a HUGE fan of the Seasons mod since it first came out and I’m playing a six game day season setting on The Western Shore. For me, six game days per season is the sweet spot. Three is too short and nine is too long. Six is just right and the custom GEO provides a perfect representation of that wonderful British weather.
Contractors or Helpers? Yep
As with many of my maps, I do use helpers as and when needed. I typically stick with two and that’s what I’m doing here on The Western Shore. While Courseplay certainly has a role in my game play, the Follow-Me mod is proving most helpful especially with grass work.
Lot’s of Grass Work
I love grass work. Running both sheep and cows will certainly require lots of hay and silage. This is some of the most satisfying work that can be done within Farming Simulator (my opinion). Like I said, lots of hay and silage are needed to keep my animals in tip-top shape.
Mowing…lots of mowing is required.
Raking and baling using the Follow-Me Mod.
I do use a few other “assist” type mods on the farm. Including a auto-loading bale trailer. But once offloaded, the bales are handled and stacked manually and as neat as possible.
Today we’re stacking hay in the barn at Bramble Lane Farm.
Still more hay to bring in. But need to take some time and feed the cows.
The fall crops will soon be ready to harvest and that will mean more straw will go into storage and I’ll begin to plan out the jobs that will need to be done over the late fall and winter time here on The Western Shore. I’ll check back in down the road and share some more progress I’m making on this wonderful and fun map.
Before I get to the meat of this blog post, please take a few minutes to visit and SUBSCRIBE to my good friend Duckzorly Gaming’s YouTube channel. He produces excellent content on a variety of games including Farming Simulator 19, Two Point Hospital, Cities Skylines & Satisfactory. As I said, his content is some of the best on YouTube and if you’re not a subscriber, please do me a really big favor and click the Subscribe button. I assure you…you won’t be disappointed.
In addition, if you are anxiously awaiting the release of the upcoming Farming Simulator Platinum DLC (Claas DLC) then you’ll want to watch Duckzorly’s recent video release where he covers the history of the Claas company and provides a detailed preview of the upcoming DLC. DZ did an outstanding job researching and presenting the history of the Claas company and their evolution into one of todays leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery.
Farming Simulator 19 – State of the Game
I could literally fill pages and pages and even more pages on this blog site about my own views regarding the current state of Farming Simulator 19. However, much of how I feel is exactly how many of you already feel. As a matter of fact, Duckzorly released a video titled FS19 – State of the Game which if you haven’t watched it, YOU NEED TO! His thoughts, feeling and desires for future versions is 100% spot on.
Yes…I know! It’s almost one hour long. If you don’t have a full hour of time to watch in one sitting, then please pick it back up at another time. Duckzorly covers all the “Hot Button” topics which many of us have been discussing at great length in forums, discord etc. for many months. Please watch his video below and I’ll provide my final thoughts below.
My Final Thoughts
I’ve been playing the popular Farming Simulator since FS15. I absolutely fell in love with this game with the FS15 version. This love affair continued into FS17 as the game itself was made better with the addition of the Seasons Mod. During the late summer and fall of 2018, our excitement for what we believed would be FS19 was replaced with sadness, bitterness and dissatisfaction in a product and a developer who we’ve historically held in high regard.
As I stated earlier, I could fill pages and pages with hundreds and thousands of words regarding my own bitter experiences with FS19. While it’s better now than it was on release. My personal opinion is Giants simply don’t care. They seem to have their priorities mixed up and in less than one years time, we most likely will start to see information regarding the release of Farming Simulator 21. How will Giants tease us with FS21? Most likely with just a bunch of CGI illusions and snake oil but hopefully I’m wrong.
I’ll return shortly with more thoughts on Farming Simulator 19 and more, very soon.
I recently read a few comments on an FS19 Facebook Group. The comments were comparing FS19 with FS17 and basically the original commenter summed up FS19 as “finally being on par with FS17”. Of course, this individual was referring to the fact that in the last several weeks we’ve seen some truly awesome mods get released which have helped to narrow the gap between where we left off with Farming Simulator 17, to what we have now with FS19 and also the long awaited 1.3 patch. But I beg to differ with his opinion…as the delta between FS19 and FS17 is still fairly wide. Wide enough Evil Knievel might think twice before attempting a death defying jump on his trusty John Deere tractor.
Now before I wade off too deeply into this blog posting. Just allow me to state for the record that this is an opinion piece and most importantly, it’s MY opinion. As my blog postings do often appear on a few different forums…the opinions expressed here are my very own. With that out of the way, let’s lace up the boots and go wading into these weeds.
Vanilla Comparisons
I believe if you strip away all the mods from Farming Simulator 17 and also do the same with FS19, and conduct side-by-side comparisons in their vanilla or default states, Farming Simulator 17 would out shine Farming Simulator 19. While FS19 touted many enhanced features including horses, a dog and John Deere…to quote Shania Twain…”That Don’t Impress Me Much”. The horses are meh, the dog doesn’t really do anything (why can’t he ride in the back of my truck?) and I’ve had as much John Deere equipment I’ve ever could have wanted since my first intro to Farming Simulator with 15. Of course, I know those who play on consoles haven’t had that.
The one thing which (again…my opinion) narrows the divide between vanilla FS17 and FS19 is Cotton. While we’ve had modded cotton before, GIANTS have done it right (for the most part) and given us cotton and some equipment to work with it. Hopefully they will continue and give us even more.
The Patch
Many (even including myself) had hopes the 1.3 patch for FS19 was going to solve all the problems with the game and half of the problems in the world. While “the patch” did resolve an issue I had been having with my Logitech G27 controller and I suppose a few other issues, I still believe a vanilla FS19 is still lagging behind that of its predecessor. One of the many factors that drive this position is what my ears tell me. The sounds in FS19 just don’t seem to be on par with that of FS17. I’ve heard the reasons for this are due to a change up with the individuals who were part of GIANTS with FS17 were no longer there when FS19 was being developed. As I don’t have time right now to do a side-by-side comparison, I did find another YouTube whose ears are telling him the same thing mine are and here’s a video he made.
Light at the end of the Tunnel
Farming Simulator 19 was an absolute lemon for me for the first few months after release. As more mods were released including quality maps, Courseplay, Guidance Steering (GPS) and just a few weeks ago FollowMe showed up…it’s becoming once again apparent that it’s our wonderful modding community that will end up saving the day. I suspect by mid-summer (hopefully not any later) we’ll see the Seasons Mod show up which is expected to bring even more goodness to Farming Simulator than we had in FS17.
I’m really not sure why GIANTS (and they are not the only one) relies on the modding community to keep their franchise games propped up. As I’ve said before, if it wasn’t for the modding community…Farming Simulator would have already been uninstalled from my PC. While I’m not optimistic GIANTS will do anything about the sound issues I pointed out earlier, I can (and will) look past that once Seasons comes out.
The Microsoft Phenomenon
Perhaps all this can be likened to what I’m going to call the Microsoft Phenomenon. If we look back a decade or two, the various Operating Systems Microsoft have developed could resemble a rollercoaster with highs and lows along the route. Windows XP once service pack 3 dropped was a fairly rock solid OS, then along came Vista. As we made the turn and proceeded up the next hill along came Windows 7, but then we took another drop and fell with Windows 8. While Windows 10 is causing a few gray hairs in my professional life…we seem to be on the uphill once again.
So perhaps this is happening with GIANTS. Who knows…and I could go on and on and on…but GIANTS really needs to hit it out of the park with Farming Simulator 21 (if there will be such a thing). Farming Simulator is such a fantastic simulation game and truly has so much potential and I believe there’s no one better to drive this franchise forward than GIANTS. So….just do it already!
Some of you are aware that two weeks ago my Mother passed away. She was 72 years old and died suddenly of a massive heart attack. I got the call from my Dad letting me know she was in the hospital, but she passed before I could get there.
To be honest with both my viewers and more importantly with myself, the past few months have been a struggle with keeping content on the channel going. I absolutely love gaming and I’m not stopping. But unfortunately, the process of creating content does change how I enjoy the games and more importantly how the games help me to destress from a long day.
Most of the more mature gamers I know all play games for much the same reason. First before we were older gamers, we were younger gamers…so it’s just been a natural progression over the years. Second, we enjoy the disconnect from life’s stressful moments, if only for an hour or two at a time.
The passing of my mom has somewhat awoken me to what matters most in this life we live. I’m not going to get all “philosophical” on you, but will just say that I have an insight on a few things now that I didn’t have a few weeks ago.
In one of my last YouTube Farm Sim videos I talked about my health and what I had been doing to get in better shape. Both of my parents suffer/suffered from many of the health conditions I’ve been trying to address through diet and exercise. The sudden passing of my Mother has motivated me to do everything in my power to not follow the same path.
As most content creators will know, producing content for YouTube takes time. For now, I’m going to continue to play and enjoy all the wonderful simulation based games I own including Farming Simulator 19, American and Euro Truck Simulator, Car Mechanic Simulator and Flight Simulator. I’m not making any hard decisions regarding the future of the GrizzlyBearSims YouTube channel other than to say that I’m taking a YouTube break for now.
However, I’ve always enjoyed writing and I have many additional topics I want to share on my blog site. Actually I just finished a “Basics of VATSIM” flight sim tutorial which I’ve been working off and on since early March. This will release either tomorrow or Wednesday. So if you are interested in getting started with the flight sim multiplayer environment known as VATSIM, then hopefully that tutorial will help you.
So for now, I’ll do my best to stay in touch via Discord and over at PC-SG. I’ll re-evaluate things with YouTube in a few weeks or perhaps a few months. Thank you for understanding.
Happy Friday to all. This is the last Friday in the month of September which just brings us even closer to the 20 November release of Farming Simulator 19. Today I present to you the 4th installment of #FactSheetFriday and of course my overall opinions of what we’re seeing.
If you’re like me and found the #FactSheetFriday entries last week to be a bit boring, you’re not alone. Many of the folks I interact with felt the same way. I believe most will find this weeks version to most certainly be more exciting than last. Especially if you are as excited about harvesting cotton as I am. Let’s dive in.
We kick things off with a bit of the same old, same old with the Challenger MT800E Series tracked tractor. This was the tractor I was excited about in the early days of FS17. But simply due to the nature of how it handled with Courseplay, I eventually learned just not to even try. If you remember back to #FactSheetFriday week 1 (7 September) where we were introduced to the Fendt version of this tractor I once again felt hopeful. Time will tell…but at least we can say we’ll have a bit of variety for this type of tractor in FS19.
In addition, the Bednar cultivator shown attached to the Challenger is a 6m cultivator which will seed and fertilize and will require a tractor capable of 500HP. While I’m not sure if everything is purchased as one unit, according to the Bednar website the trailing unit is a Bednar Presspack which in the real world can either be used separately or combined with other equipment as shown in the photo.
Now we’re talking. The second photo released today by GIANTS in their #FridayFactSheet media promotion is the Case Cotton Harvester. Honestly, there’s a lot about FS19 which excites me….but this is at the very top of my list. The Case Cotton Harvester will feature a 6m working width and is capable of producing 20,000 liter cotton bales (or modules). While I realize we’ve had the ability to plant and harvest cotton since at least FS15 (with mods), this will be cotton done right and that excites me.
Finally we have the entry for the Case Maxxum Series tractor. But more importantly, we see the attached cotton bale (or module) trailer attached. While we have no specific information on this trailer, it would appear the large cotton bales are winched onto the trailer. As another virtual farmer posted on Twitter, this trailer may also be ideal for transporting a skid steer.
While this weeks #FactSheetFriday only contained three images and identified four pieces of equipment, simply because of the subject matter (cotton) I’m highly excited and like many, I’m counting down the days until the 20 November release of Farming Simulator 19.
Everything I’ve seen, everything I’ve read all indicate to me that GIANTS are moving the needles all in the right direction and doing their part to not only make their Farming Simulator franchise the best of all agricultural based simulations, but also keep it at the top for years to come. What more could we ask for?
I’m sorry…I’ve just been triggered by something. My friend Duckzorly spent some time during one of his recent Farming Simulator 17 Livestreams standing on his soapbox talking about the madness some in the FS community seem to be showing/exhibiting after it appears there will only be ONE (1) John Deere combine in FS19.
For the record, it wasn’t Duckzorly’s livestream video which triggered me to write this piece. Actually it was another video I stumbled on where the YouTube content creator just seems to be really upset, disappointed…but mostly upset with the fact that only one John Deere harvester has been announced for FS19. Really??? Geez dude….you really have your priorities out of whack and you need to take a chill pill STAT!
Patience Grasshopper
Let’s take a deep breath and try to put things into perspective. First, Farming Simulator 19 is the first of the long running agricultural based simulators by GIANTS to include John Deere in the base game. In other words, FS19 is the first to include an “officially licensed” John Deere piece of equipment in the base game. Something that many of us believed would never, ever happen.
Second to that point. We’re still two months away from the release of Farming Simulator 19. While I understand those who are studying the FS19 Fact Sheets are drawing conclusions that there will only be one JD combine in the game, we’re still two months away from release. So really…anything can happen.
Third, because this is the first time John Deere has been officially licensed into Farming Simulator, perhaps the John Deere company is taking a “wait and see” approach to determine what the next phase will be. Or perhaps it’s GIANTS who are taking the “wait and see” approach…or equal parts of both. Or…here’s an idea! Stop the presses…unfortunately I can’t say you heard it here first (as Duckzorly was the first I heard suggest this idea) that the usual DLC we see GIANTS release a few months down the road will be a John Deere themed DLC. From a marketing perspective…that right there ladies and gentlemen is a brilliant idea. Take my money now!!!
As it stands on Tuesday, 25 September…we’re getting six pieces of John Deere branded equipment. This includes one JD weight, one JD 7.6m grain header, one JD 6.0m corn header, one JD 8R series tractor and ONE JD T560 harvester. There appears to still be one (yet to be revealed) JD vehicle (believed to be the JD Gator) that has not been announced. If this is all the JD equipment we see on release day, then be thankful and shut up about it. In the days, weeks, months after release of FS19 the internet will be full of John Deere mods which may or may not work well for FS19.
Bottom Line
We all have opinions, complaints and plenty of hopes and dreams for what Farming Simulator will deliver to us on 20 November. Later this week (perhaps tomorrow) I’m going to share some of these with you and discuss whether or not GIANTS have lost the plot with the direction (or at least the perceived direction) they are taking FS19.
But until then, if you want to talk about Farming Simulator 19…join me as I say farewell to Farming Simulator 17 on an upcoming YouTube Livestream on the South Mountain Creamery map with Seasons. In the mean time, please consider also visiting my good friends and excellent YouTube content creators Duckzorly Gaming and Eustace Pharmer. If you’re not familiar with these two channels, you are missing out on some of the very best and family friendly Farming Simulator entertainment on the entire interwebz.
Remember! One John Deere combine is better than NO John Deere combine.
TGIF and welcome to another GIANTS #FactSheetFriday blog update from GrizzlyBearSims. Today is Friday, 21 September and we have four brand new fact sheets of equipment we can expect to see in Farming Simulator 19. FS19 is scheduled to release in less than two months. OK…if you are reading this on the day of release, it’s only one day less than two months. But hey….every day counts when we’re as excited as a child on Christmas morning right? Let’s get right into my review.
All the items featured in this #FactSheetFriday from GIANTS are all related to forestry. Before I dive in too deep, I must state for the record that forestry in Farming Simulator is not what keeps me coming back for more. Said in another way, while it does add other things to do…I wouldn’t be disappointed if at some stage GIANTS decided to remove it from the base game. And to be perfectly honest, one of the reasons I feel this way about the forestry concept is down to how poorly the timber handling characteristics have been in previous versions of Farming Simulator. Of course, my first experience came in FS15 and yes, things were a little better in FS17. I think time will tell just how much the game physics related to handling of logs, bales and pallets have improved in FS19. I’m just really thankful for auto-loading trailer mods which have really helped to improve my overall enjoyment.
Earlier this week we were treated to a video from GIANTS which featured the Komatsu Tree Harvester. It was a great video which compared real life footage and FS19 in game footage of this awesome tool. While I don’t do a lot of forestry, I’m looking forward to trying this piece of kit out on my virtual farm.
Next up is the Komatsu 875 Forestry Forwarder. I’m not real sure what’s up with those blue tracks as in looking at photos from the Komatsu website it appears the tracks are black. But never mind that.
Next up is the MAN TGX 26.640 Timber Truck.
Finally, the Steyr Profi CVT tractor and the Fliegl Long Neck Combi Plus timber handling attachment. I think we’ll just have to wait and see how beneficial this setup will be for our virtual logging efforts.
Final Thoughts
And perhaps a question to ponder. I’m as excited about FS19 just as much anyone else. But after viewing this #FactSheetFriday I’m somewhat left with a question. It appears the Komatsu equipment will be an addition to FS19 and the Ponssee equipment we’ve had in both FS15 and FS17 will stay. As the primary concept of the Farming Simulator franchise by GIANTS is about…FARMING! For no other reason than variety, I’m curious as to why the Komatsu equipment line is truly needed in the game?
Now this is what I’m talking about. I’ll leave you with a brand new video featuring gameplay footage of harvesting crops in FS19. Cotton…I can’t wait. Enjoy and thanks for reading.
